Antibiotic resistance: A threat to health

Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections like the common cold, influenza, etc.

Researchers from McMaster University recently published
an article in Nature Communications Biology that details how
bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. The paper presents influential
findings as the World Health Organization states about 700,000 people around
the world die each year from drug resistance illnesses.

As CBC News reports, Maikel Rheinstadter, physics
professor at McMaster, and Andree Khondker, an undergraduate biochemistry
student, report that bacteria fight off antibiotics by stiffening their own
cell membranes and changing the barrier’s electrical charge. This results in
the bacteria being a less attractive target to the drugs.

Rheinstadter and his team used X-ray imaging and computer
simulations to view polymyxin B—an antibiotic—interacting with the
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Normally, antibiotics have a positive charge and
are attracted to bacteria which often have a negatively charged membrane. The
antibiotics then puncture the bacteria’s membrane which causes the cell to die.
When resistant bacteria reduce their own charge, it lowers their attractiveness
to antibiotics.

What are antibiotics and bacteria?

Bacteria are
single-celled organisms and are found inside and outside of our bodies. While
some bacteria are actually helpful, like the majority of bacteria living in our
intestines, some disease-causing bacteria can cause illnesses such as strep
throat.

An antibiotic is a substance that either kills a bacterium
or inhibits its growth and replication according to Microbiology Society.
Antibiotics are a type of antimicrobial and are specifically designed to
circumvent bacterial infections within the body. The majority of antibiotics
are produced in laboratories and are often based on compounds found in nature.
They can fight against a wide range of bacteria or be highly specialised and
only attack certain bacteria. They are one of the most common drugs used in
medicine and are essential in surgeries such as organ transplants,
appendectomies, and caesarean sections.

The Resistance

The first antibiotic discovered was penicillin—in 1928 by
Alexander Fleming. Since that time, scientists and health professionals have
acknowledged that bacteria will look for ways to resist new drugs. Currently,
more and more bacteria are developing and sharing their resistance with other
bacteria.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention, antibiotic resistance is when bacteria develop the ability to fight
off the antibiotics designed to kill them. The infection caused when these
antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect humans or animals is difficult to treat
and may result in extended hospital stays, costly and toxic alternative
medicine, and increased mortality. The longer duration spent at the hospital
increases health care costs and the economic burden on families and societies.
With the rate of new resistant strains rising dangerously, infections such as
pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, and foodborne diseases are becoming
harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less
effective.

As the World Health Organization explains, antibiotic
resistance is a natural process however, misusing antibiotics in humans and
animals is accelerating the process. Overuse of antibiotics enables the
development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Meaning that each time a person
takes antibiotics, non-resistant bacteria are killed, but resistant bacteria
are left to grow and multiply. Poor infection prevention and control can also
increase the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections
like the common cold, flu, most sore throats, and many sinus and ear
infections. Using antibiotics for these viral illnesses is another example of
how overuse of antibiotics can promote the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Prevention

In order to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance,
the World Health Organization recommends only using antibiotics when prescribed
by a certified health professional and never sharing or using leftover
antibiotics. Viral infections should not be treated with antibiotics either.

Measures to prevent infections such as regularly washing
hands, preparing food hygienically, avoiding close contact with sick people,
practicing safer sex, and keeping vaccinations up to date should be actively
practiced. Other important strategies centre around preparing food hygienically
and include keeping raw and cooked food separate, cooking food thoroughly,
storing food at safe temperatures, using safe water and raw materials, and
choosing foods that have been produced without the use of antibiotics for
growth promotion or disease prevention in healthy animals.

Choosing antibiotic free food products is vital as people
can also be exposed to resistant bacteria from animals. While any use of
antibiotics can lead to resistance, when animals are given antibiotics for
growth promotion or increased feed efficiency, bacteria are exposed to low
doses of these drugs over a prolonged period of time. This type of exposure to
antibiotics may lead to the survival and growth of resistant bacteria. The
resistant bacteria can contaminate the environment through animal stool. They
can also infect meat—when the animals are slaughtered and processed—and produce
when it is irrigated with contaminated water. People can then get infected with
resistant bacteria when they eat the contaminated raw/undercooked meat and
produce.

Antibiotics must be used responsibly in both humans and
animals because both uses enable the development and spread of resistant
bacteria. Antibiotics are valuable for treating bacterial infections and
reducing animal disease however, decisions about which—and how much—antibiotics
can be used in humans and animals should be made after careful consideration.